Public Financing Supporters Political Power For Communities Of Color

Supporters of the public financing of political campaigns in New York pointed to the potential effect the measure would have on empowering candidates and voters of color.

The groups, ranging from labor organizations like 32BJ SEIU, the Working Families Party, the liberal Demos and labor-aligned groups advocacy like Make the Road New York, sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the top legislative leaders in the Assembly and Senate urging them to take up the legislation.

The letter points to deep-pocketed donors who are largely white having an outsize influence on public policy as a result of their contributions.

“The fight for fair elections is really a fight to open our democracy for communities of color. The data shows us clearly that the donor class is made up of wealthy, white elites, giving them a disproportionate influence on policy,” said Demos Senior Campaign Strategist Amshula K. Jayaram.

“Voices from all sides of the debate have been wary of acknowledging this, focusing instead on the impact of corporate money and the need for good governance. These are of course important, but the issue of racial equity has been buried allowing lawmakers and others to dismiss the importance of campaign finance as an urgent civil rights issue.”

Cuomo included a public financing provision in his $175 billion spending plan.

This entry was posted by Nick Reisman on March 7, 2019 at 12:28 pm, and is filed under Albany. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.